2,000 years ago, the most incredible event happened in history! God stepped down into the world as fully flesh and fully God and was born into the world as a helpless babe and placed into a manger! We can read about this account in the gospel and just say, "Cool" and then move right on to His life and death on the cross. But, I would encourage you as I have myself this year to truly meditate on the account of God placing Himself into history! Jesus took himself out of a place of Glory and Splendor, a place where He and the rest of the Trinity shared a perfect, unblemished relationship and entered into the world as weak, miry flesh to offer something that would rock everyone's world! He exchanged a place of Sinlessness for a place that would be infested with SIN! He exchanged a place that is absent from brokenness, sorrow, grief, pain and hate for a place that possessed all of these things in fullness! The exchange that Christ made is an incredible mystery! Not one of us could ever understand the LOVE of God! We are so far away from such mystery, that we can only use experiences and relationships to try and understand the Love of God. And still fall extremely short! As we think on the historical account of the Messiah taking His place into the world to bring Salvation to all that would receive it, I challenge you along with myself to dwell on the exchange Christ made when He left glory to walk amongst us! I have been thinking about this incredible exchange and the more and more I dwell on such an incredible account, the more I am amazed and mesmerized by what He did for us! So as you recall the Shining Star, the Shepherds, the Angels, Mary and Joseph, the manger and everything that represents the Beautiful Christmas Story, don't forget to take time and dwell on the mysterious account in Jesus' exchange when He chose to become flesh and live amongst us! It makes me say, "Oh, What a Savior. Oh What Love, Oh What a Salvation, Oh What an Exchange!"
Merry Christmas,
Twiga
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Opportunities in Evangelism
I am unbelievably thankful for the opportunities that God gives me to reach the nations with His gospel! I work at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and also a warehouse that processes cell phones. Since working at the warehouse I have had the privilege to share the gospel with two young muslim believers, that I felt received the news that I spoke to them very well and continue to pursue a relationship with me. Since those two encounters, I have been given yet another opportunity to talk about the gospel with a Catholic believer from The Ivory Coast named Sogo. This young man from The Ivory Coast really only knew that Jesus died for him and not really why! I was amazed that he knew Jesus died for him but somehow having no knowledge of why. So, we talked and I shared with him starting from the Fall of Man and continued to Jesus' death and resurrection. Sogo was very intrigued with the concept of grace and the revelation of eternal life.
So now I find myself with two wonderful opportunities coming up! This Thursday I will be in fellowship with Waseem, which is one of the young muslim believers, from India, joined by a few Christian brothers at an Indian restaurant. Please pray for me and my Christian brothers as we have a unique opportunity to not only preach the gospel to this young man but live it out right in front of him! Sogo, the young man from The Ivory Coast agreed to let me buy him a Bible! We are looking at the calendar to schedule an evening to get together and talk about the gospel over mexican food. He is very excited about receiving the Bible I am buying him and is very enthusiastic about our upcoming time of fellowship.
Now, this is where you as the reader can become involved! I need prayer! Please pray first of all for all three of the international's that I have encountered with the gospel. Nadal, that is from Kenya, Africa. Waseem, from India and Sogo, from The Ivory Coast. Please pray that The Holy Spirit will begin penetrating their hearts and preparing them for what will be said in the upcoming weeks as we fellowship together. Pray that God would bless me with down time that I can use to thread through scripture and invest in preparing for my upcoming fellowship with Waseem. Pray that I would be able to find the right kind of Bible for Sogo! Pray that Sogo would begin searching for questions that he can ask me to help him see the gospel more clearly! Pray for the upcoming Spiritual Warfare that will be ever so present as I try to take advantage of the time I have with these two young men outside of the work place! And pray that I would become closer to the Lord as I look to The Spirit to guide me in Truth throughout these opportunities.
I want to thank each and everyone of you who have already invested time in prayer for these coworkers of mine! Your prayers are incredibly important and know that opportunities to share the gospel are increasing every time I step foot into that warehouse!
Seeking those in NEED of GRACE,
Twiga
So now I find myself with two wonderful opportunities coming up! This Thursday I will be in fellowship with Waseem, which is one of the young muslim believers, from India, joined by a few Christian brothers at an Indian restaurant. Please pray for me and my Christian brothers as we have a unique opportunity to not only preach the gospel to this young man but live it out right in front of him! Sogo, the young man from The Ivory Coast agreed to let me buy him a Bible! We are looking at the calendar to schedule an evening to get together and talk about the gospel over mexican food. He is very excited about receiving the Bible I am buying him and is very enthusiastic about our upcoming time of fellowship.
Now, this is where you as the reader can become involved! I need prayer! Please pray first of all for all three of the international's that I have encountered with the gospel. Nadal, that is from Kenya, Africa. Waseem, from India and Sogo, from The Ivory Coast. Please pray that The Holy Spirit will begin penetrating their hearts and preparing them for what will be said in the upcoming weeks as we fellowship together. Pray that God would bless me with down time that I can use to thread through scripture and invest in preparing for my upcoming fellowship with Waseem. Pray that I would be able to find the right kind of Bible for Sogo! Pray that Sogo would begin searching for questions that he can ask me to help him see the gospel more clearly! Pray for the upcoming Spiritual Warfare that will be ever so present as I try to take advantage of the time I have with these two young men outside of the work place! And pray that I would become closer to the Lord as I look to The Spirit to guide me in Truth throughout these opportunities.
I want to thank each and everyone of you who have already invested time in prayer for these coworkers of mine! Your prayers are incredibly important and know that opportunities to share the gospel are increasing every time I step foot into that warehouse!
Seeking those in NEED of GRACE,
Twiga
Monday, December 13, 2010
Worship is Life. Not an Event!
Quick Update: Hey everybody! Just a quick update on job opportunities. A few months back I applied for an open staff position at a church in North Carolina. The position was for The Director of Communications. I was very honored to be considered and within the last few weeks I was a top candidate for the position. I found out the later part of last week that they chose to go with a current member of the church. It was kind of hard to take in at first because of the thought of being so close to my brother and his family, but I am thankful to a God that fills my heart with peace and I am assured that He has an incredible plan for the future. There are other doors opened at the time and I will update as I find out from those places.
Last night Highview Baptist Church had its Family Christmas Combined Worship Service. I am so grateful for my church here in Louisville and my church family! There are so many encouraging brothers and sisters that I find myself surrounded by! Last night was a true night of worship! It was an incredible picture of The Kingdom of God! The choir loft was jammed packed with people and even though it snowed last night, and the roads were slick, the church packed out even still! It was a full house last night as hands were raised and tears fell in the midst of sweet time of fellowship and singing. Highview also had a number of children come up to the front and help lead in worship! Last night I ran camera and as I panned and zoomed for selected shots, I saw pictures of Worshippers, looking to Jesus Christ as their solid rock!
As a part of the media team at Highview, it can be easy to feel as though I am working, rather than participating in worship but for those that have never looked through the scope of the camera lens, you can't realize the pictures that we breathe in Sunday from Sunday. I see tears, faces of joy, passionate faces that are bringing Truth to a congregation and a full scope of Worship to a God that is So Worthy to be Praised! As I panned left to right, zoomed in and out and focused in on faces last night, I couldn't help but think about what Worship entails for us in our lives! Worship is Life! Worship is not this event that we attend on Sunday's and Wednesdays in a building with others. We worship God in everything! We reveal our hearts in how we worship through our conversations. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we are driving down freeways and highways. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we are at work. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we crawl out of our beds!
Sometimes, there are points in our lives where we don't feel like worshipping! We find ourselves in the depths of the valley and suppressed past the point of worship! It is in those times though, that God is at work the hardest in our lives! As Christians, we live by faith, which means that we aren't a people that are able to see a lot of things but must trust that God works these kind of times in our lives out for the good! Romans 8:28 says, "For He is working out the good of those who love God and are called according to His ultimate purpose." As Christians, we must believe that! We live by faith! Not by sight! It is those times in the valley that we must recall the goodness of God and say, "You are God! You hold all things together! I believe in You and know that You are at work in the midst of this valley right now!"
So make worship your life, not an event! Remember that He is making all things New! He is In All Things and Through All Things! We are deserving of His wrath but are instead given Grace, Freely! We are given The Holy Spirit to guide us in Truth! And We ARE a people created FOR WORSHIP!
Worshipping The Lord of Lords and The King of Kings,
Twiga
Last night Highview Baptist Church had its Family Christmas Combined Worship Service. I am so grateful for my church here in Louisville and my church family! There are so many encouraging brothers and sisters that I find myself surrounded by! Last night was a true night of worship! It was an incredible picture of The Kingdom of God! The choir loft was jammed packed with people and even though it snowed last night, and the roads were slick, the church packed out even still! It was a full house last night as hands were raised and tears fell in the midst of sweet time of fellowship and singing. Highview also had a number of children come up to the front and help lead in worship! Last night I ran camera and as I panned and zoomed for selected shots, I saw pictures of Worshippers, looking to Jesus Christ as their solid rock!
As a part of the media team at Highview, it can be easy to feel as though I am working, rather than participating in worship but for those that have never looked through the scope of the camera lens, you can't realize the pictures that we breathe in Sunday from Sunday. I see tears, faces of joy, passionate faces that are bringing Truth to a congregation and a full scope of Worship to a God that is So Worthy to be Praised! As I panned left to right, zoomed in and out and focused in on faces last night, I couldn't help but think about what Worship entails for us in our lives! Worship is Life! Worship is not this event that we attend on Sunday's and Wednesdays in a building with others. We worship God in everything! We reveal our hearts in how we worship through our conversations. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we are driving down freeways and highways. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we are at work. We reveal our hearts for how we worship when we crawl out of our beds!
Sometimes, there are points in our lives where we don't feel like worshipping! We find ourselves in the depths of the valley and suppressed past the point of worship! It is in those times though, that God is at work the hardest in our lives! As Christians, we live by faith, which means that we aren't a people that are able to see a lot of things but must trust that God works these kind of times in our lives out for the good! Romans 8:28 says, "For He is working out the good of those who love God and are called according to His ultimate purpose." As Christians, we must believe that! We live by faith! Not by sight! It is those times in the valley that we must recall the goodness of God and say, "You are God! You hold all things together! I believe in You and know that You are at work in the midst of this valley right now!"
So make worship your life, not an event! Remember that He is making all things New! He is In All Things and Through All Things! We are deserving of His wrath but are instead given Grace, Freely! We are given The Holy Spirit to guide us in Truth! And We ARE a people created FOR WORSHIP!
Worshipping The Lord of Lords and The King of Kings,
Twiga
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